The semifinals of the 2024 Badminton Asian Championships are over, and the national feather has entered the finals of all individual events, and will attack 5 golds, of which the women's singles will win the gold medal in advance. The semi-finals of this Asian Championship can be described as a paradise of "upsets", because there were 6 upsets in 10 games, more than half. What's even more remarkable is that the top seeds in all individual events are out.
The first upset came in the Women's Singles domestic war, where eighth seed Wang Zhiyi defeated fifth seed He Bingjiao in straight games, 21-19, 21-17. Whether it is the world ranking, or the Olympic points, or even the results of domestic competitions, Wang Zhiyi is far behind He Bingjiao, but I didn't expect that Wang Zhiyi staged a situation of "defeating the strong with the weak" in the semifinals, and thus opened the semi-final upset.
The second upset also came from a domestic battle, with seventh seeds Teo Shu Hsien/Zheng Yu beating world No.1 and No.1 seeds Chen Qingchen/Jia Yifan 21-14, 21-16 in just 49 minutes, while the third upset was in the Men's Doubles Malaysian Civil War, where Goh Shi Fei/Izuudin defeated fourth seeds Chia Ting Feng/So Wei Yi 21-14, 21-18 to advance to the final against Leung Wai Hang/Wang Chang.
The fourth upset was won by men's singles top seed Shi Yuqi and was beaten by third seed Jonatan 21-18, 19-21, 12-21. Shi Yuqi was limited by his physical fitness and lost in the second half of the second game, while the fifth upset was a 14-21, 21-15, 21-12 upset by No. 5 seed Li Shifeng over No. 4 seed Kodai Naraoka. Since winning the Asian Games, Li Shifeng has been in a slump until the Asian Championships.
The sixth upset was the Mixed Doubles world No.1 Zheng Siwei/Hwang Yaqiong who lost 21-9, 13-21, 16-21 to Seo Seung Jae/Choi Yoo Hyun. Although Xu Chengjae/Choi Yoo-hyun is the world champion, after Zheng Siwei/Huang Yaqiong adjusted their playing style, they gradually figured out the opponent's offensive routine and won 6 consecutive victories, but they did not expect to be counterattacked and targeted by the opponent this time.
With Men's Singles No.1 seeds Shi Yuqi, Women's Doubles top seeds Chen Qingchen/Jia Yifan and Mixed Doubles top seeds Zheng Siwei/Huang Yaqiong out of the Asian Championships semi-finals, plus Men's Doubles top seeds Rankireddy/Shetty withdrawing and Women's Singles top seeds An Xiying being eliminated by He Bingjiao in the quarter-finals, all the top seeds in the five individual events have been eliminated, which also brings hope to the teams that will compete for five gold medals.
The women's singles final is Wang Zhiyi vs. Chen Yufei, no matter who wins, the national feather will win the gold medal, so he won the gold in advance; the men's doubles is Leung Wei Keng/Wang Chang vs. Malaysian dark horse Goh Shi Fei/Izudin, the two sides have played once before, Leung Wei Keng/Wang Chang laughed to the end; mixed doubles Feng Yanzhe/Huang Dongping faced Xu Chengzai/Cai Yooji, the two sides played 4 times, Feng Yanzhe and Huang Dongping 3-1, these 3 gold medals are not very difficult.
Women's Doubles Zhang Shuxian/Zheng Yu will face Korea's Baek Ha Na/Lee So-hee, although the historical record is down, but the most recent meeting between the two of them won in straight games, and the two of them were in great form at the Asian Championships, and Men's Singles Lee Shi-feng took on Jonatan. If Li Shifeng can show the form he was in in the first few rounds of this Asian Championships, he still has a good chance of winning Jonatan. These two games should be regarded as a relatively suspenseful contest for the national feather, and I hope that Zhang Shuxian/Zheng Yu and Li Shifeng can go all out to help the national feather achieve a "home run".